Newt Gingrich

Can you believe this guy is such a player?

It was with great pleasure that I received the news that Newt Gingrich had converted to Catholicism.  Now he's running for president.  With South Carolina under his belt, he may well be the Republican nominee, but it is doubtful that Mr. Gingrich has what it takes to be president.  His dirty laundry is being aired, and it ain't sweet smelling! 

He has spoken out powerfully about traditional family structure, but requested an open marriage from the second of his (as of yet) three wives.  He's not handled his personal finances well, leading a life where he is perpetually broke.  He also tried to write an apologetic tell-all book, but was stopped by aides.  He also had a torrid High School affair with his math teacher.  Newt also has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. 
This leads to awkward headlines, like this one, "Newt Gingrich: Child labor laws are stupid"

What's truly amazing about Gingrich's success in South Carolina is that he probably won because the Evangelical Protestants probably voted for him because they'd rather have a Catholic than a Mormon.  Now that's just sad!  Appealing to racism and religious prejudice seems to be par for the course for Gingrich, but his new found religion won't stand for it.  45 Catholic leaders wrote an open letter to the two Catholic Republican candidates for president, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.  The letter was published January 21, 2012 and reads as follows. 

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum
As Catholic leaders who recognize that the moral scandals of racism and poverty remain a blemish on the American soul, we challenge our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail. Mr. Gingrich has frequently attacked President Obama as a “food stamp president” and claimed that African Americans are content to collect welfare benefits rather than pursue employment. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Santorum remarked: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” Labeling our nation’s first African-American president with a title that evokes the past myth of “welfare queens” and inflaming other racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders.
Some presidential candidates now courting “values voters” seem to have forgotten that defending human life and dignity does not stop with protecting the unborn. We remind Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum that Catholic bishops describe racism as an “intrinsic evil” and consistently defend vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans. At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can’t address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting.
As the South Carolina primary approaches, we urge Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum and all presidential candidates to reject the politics of racial division, refrain from offensive rhetoric and unite behind an agenda that promotes racial and economic justice.

For the 45 signatures and the original posting of the letter, click here.   I'm sure that many of the 45 have met Pope Benedict XVI and perhaps some would have met Blessed John Paul II.

Supernanny, Jo Frost

3 Degrees

Third Degree, Jo Frost is The Supernanny.  You do not have to have biological children to be a parenting influence.  Jo Frost knows this quite well.  She has over 20 years of experience with children, parents, and families.  Childcare is very taxing and mothers and fathers need all the help they can get.  We often overlook the single person when we think about mothers.  Many single women have taken on the role of mom when caring for  cousins, siblings, or neighbors.  Here is Jo at work.  This sort of behavior is common in our culture.



Jo appears frequently as a guest on talk shows.  She has appeared several times on second degree, David Letterman's show.

Dave had first degree, Father Guido Sarducci, (character from Saturday Night Live) on.  Father shared his "interview" with Pope John Paul II.

A word on Catholic parenting
Children are NOT the center of a Catholic home, God is.  The marriage of mother and father is the second priority.  The children are the third priority.  In too many homes, children are the focus.  This is wrong.

Divorce breaks children's hearts

When parents' needs are not met, their bond becomes looser and discord begins to develop between them.  Over time the parents become estranged in their own home.  If the relationship becomes too diseased, divorce happens.  Divorce shatters the foundation of a child's home.  Divorce is enmity between mother and father, that enmity is not shared by the children, who are confused that people so loved cannot love one another.  The children lose their trust in love.  God is love.  Children lose their trust in God.

The divorce epidemic directly corresponds to lowering church attendance.  Coincidence?

Catholic men's conferences are very inspiring

Have a talk with your spouse and make sure your needs are met.  What are your spiritual needs?  Do you need to go to adoration every week?  How about a men's or women's prayer group?  Quiet time to read scripture each day?  A family decade of the rosary after supper?

Everyone needs
affection and cuddling

What are your physical needs?  Are you getting enough sleep?  Are you exercising enough?  What can be done to get the family more physically fit?  Is the family eating well?  Do you want to commit to fasting on Fridays?  Do the spouses show enough physical affection to one another to satisfy their need to be held and cuddled?  Is the sex life of the couple satisfying and strong?  How often do the spouses need to date?

This couple is not sharing the
chore of paying the bills.
This can lead to resentment over time.

What are your financial needs?  Do you need to get your credit cards under control?  Are the spouses on the same page financially?  How are the investments going?  What are the causes of concern and celebration?

Don't neglect your friendships

What are your personal needs?  Is there a friend or group of friends that you have neglected?  Have you had a boys' or girls' night out lately?  Are you nurturing your friendships enough so that your spouse is not carrying the load of your personal needs completely on their shoulders?  Do you have time to talk to your spouse as friend and confidant?  How can time be managed in your family such that your friendships can be nurtured and strengthened?

Look at the list of needs above.  Is it right that children be responsible for satisfying any of them?  CERTAINLY NOT!  Can you see how God and marriage need to be the center of the home?  When all these needs are being met, children are in a secure environment, one where they can just be kids.

King Tutankhamun #2

Dr. Hawass, photo by AP

The last two posts introduced us to Dr. Zahi Hawass, the face of Egyptian antiquities to the world.  Dr. Hawass recently oversaw DNA testing on King Tutankhamun (KV62) and other mummies from KV21A, KV35YL, KV55, KV35, and KV35EL.  As it turns out, King Tut's family tree is more like a wreath.

Dr. Hawass with King Tut
Photo on the BBC website

• His great-aunt was also his grandma.  
• His Uncle and Aunt were also his mom and dad.  
• And his wife was his half-sister and cousin!  

For genetic evidence and Tut's family tree, see page 52 in the September 2010 issue of National Geographic.  The coverstory is by Dr. Hawass with stunning photos by Kenneth Garrett.  Ken's site is here.  Dr. Hawass' site is here. 

We link King Tutankhamun to Pope John Paul II this time via bloodlines.  Let's get started.

5 Degrees

of double-helix hijinks!

Photo from National
Geographic, June 2005

Fifth Degree: King Tutankhamun,
The Boy King, the Inbred Emperor, The Club-footed, Cleft-palleted (though not hare-lipped) Kid from Cairo (well, Thebes), restored polytheism to Egypt after his heretical father, Akhenaten, led the country in a monotheistic cult of the sun and pharoh for 20 years.  Rather than remaining in the belief of a single god, Aten and keeping his name Tutankhaten, Tut used the name Tutankhamun.  Tut's grandpa's name, Amenhotep, means "Amun is pleased."

Noksbutzwitbroshet and Tutankhamun
She was the daughter of Nefertiti, very
pretty indeed.  

King Tut and his lovely sister/cousin/wife, Noksbutzwitbroshet (sound it out, I made that up, we don't actually know her name,) conceived two children.  Both babies died in the womb and were mummified and buried with Tutankhamun.  

According to Dr. Hawass' article in the September 2010 National Geographic, tut's sister/cousin/widow wrote to the King of Egypt's arch-rivals, the Hittites, asking him to send her a prince to marry her because "my husband is dead, and I have no son."  The Hittitie king did send a prince, but the prince was killed by the chief commander of Tut's armies, Horemheb.  Horemheb figured he'd marry the queen for himself, but he died before children resulted from that union.  Horemheb left his throne to his army colleague.  That colleague married Noksbutzwithbroshet and took the name Ramses I.  Ramses II was the grandson of Ramses I and therefore the great nephew of the late King Tutankhamun.

Fourth Degree: Ramses II

Ramses' bloodline bore some pretty amazing people.  Ramses himself lived almost 100 years.  Many of his offspring were equally hearty.  They include Xerxes the Great, Saint Isaac The Great of Armenia aka. Saint Isaac of Syria, Henry I of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry Plantagenet.  

Bas relief of Xerxes The Great

Mosaic of St. Isaac of Armenia

Eleanor of Aquitaine as played by
Katherine Hepburn in
"A Lion in Winter"

Henry VIII in characature by Amir Taqi

Third Degree: King Henry VIII:  
Some 100 generations after Ramses II, King Henry VIII (Plantagenet) ascended to the throne of England.  Marriage will forever bear the scars of Henry's tussle with the Catholic Church.  


Second Degree: Saint Thomas Moore
In Henry's desperate attempt to get legitimate tail on the side,  he tortured and killed two saints of the church, Cardinal Fisher and Thomas Moore.  These men died because they refused to help their king create a loopole whereby he could divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon.  Here is a clip from the series "The Tudors."  The scene of Thomas Moore's execution.  I'll spare you the torture of Cardinal Fisher.  

First Degree: Pope Pius XI

Thomas Moore was canonized by
Pope Pius XI in 1935

Tut to Ramses to Henry VIII to Thomas Moore to Pope Pius XI to John Paul II

Coming soon! In King Tut #3, discover the pharoh of the exodus, and how he was related to Tut.

Divorce: Divorce is not possible in Christianity.  God marries two people, but the two people have to be willing participants in the marriage.  The only way for a marriage to be dissolved is if it did not happen in the first place.  This is the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.*  Annulments can be petitioned for.  They mean that the marriage was never valid.  Here is a short list of reasons for annulment.

1. one or both parties was not willing to marry on the wedding day
2. one or both parties were not in their right mind on the wedding day
3. one or both parties was incapable of consummating the marriage on the wedding day
4. the wedding was not held in a church and God was not asked to be part of the marriage

Civil divorce is necessary when violence, substance abuse or other intolerable circumstances enter a marriage.  If you divorce YOU ARE STILL CATHOLIC.  Just because you don't live with someone and have protected your children from them etc, does not mean that you are not married to them in the eyes of God.  You can still love your spouse, pray for your spouse, and do nice things for your spouse.  You just can't marry someone else.  Talk to a priest if you have any questions.  

It is not true that money can buy an annulment.  Henry VIII had loads of money, as do the Kennedys of Massachusetts, but both have been unable to get annulments.  If an annulment is fought, its chances of being granted are greatly reduced.

*The Eastern church has a kind of 3-strikes practice which is actually more ancient than the Roman understanding, but with the East, death does NOT end the marriage.  You just can't escape the permanence of marriage in Catholic faith.   When we make a podcast version of the blog, we'll have to discuss this further.